Aspirations,Attainments, and Satisfaction: Life Cycle Differences Between American Women and Men |
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Authors: | Anke C Plagnol Richard A Easterlin |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;(2) Department of Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA |
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Abstract: | Aspirations, along with attainments, play an important role in shaping well-being. Early in adult life women are more likely
than men to fulfill their material goods and family life aspirations; their satisfaction in these domains is correspondingly
higher; and so too is their overall happiness. Material goods aspirations refer here to desires for a number of big-ticket
consumer goods, such as a home, car, travel abroad and vacation home. In later life these gender differences turn around.
Men come closer than women to fulfilling their material goods and family life aspirations, are more satisfied with their financial
situation and family life, and are the happier of the two genders. An important factor underlying the turnaround in fulfillment
of aspirations for material goods and family life is probably the shift over the course of the life cycle in the relative
proportion of women and men in marital and non-marital unions. |
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Keywords: | Well-being Aspirations Gender Life course |
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